Returning Local Sports To Live TV - How to best do it

[stationless listener]

There's been the start of a trend of sports teams looking to put much or even all of their non-national games on local TV. Two news items concerning this involve the Phoenix Suns and the Las Vegas Golden Knights. Also, ION is going to air WNBA games this season on a regional basis. This past day I've read that Paramount Global is dropping the CW affiliation on some of their channels, in part, to look for opportunities to air local sports. One of the reasons this is happening is that the Regional Sports Networks are losing money hand over fist. Warner Bros. Discovery is getting out of the RSN business and Bally's Sports has declared bankruptcy.

New York would be one of the last markets to lose the RSNs but I think even here there has to be some discussion over putting more games on over the air TV. Companies like Nexstar, Gray, Scripps, Paramount Global and maybe a few others are looking at NBA, NHL and MLB. The NFL has been on over the air TV since forever because they love the exposure, as well as major college football. It seems that some NBA and NHL owners are starting to think more that way.

In NYC we have the Knicks, Nets, Rangers, Islanders, Devils, Yankees and Mets.

Being that the Yankees went completely away from OTA towards more streaming I doubt they'd be among the first to go back. The Mets, I know, has a local deal with WPIX, while the Brooklyn Nets had a couple of games on WWOR in the last part of the regular season. But other than those and national TV games New York sports on over the air TV is extremely scarce. This is not going to change much, as the owners are going to hold on to cable and streaming money as long as they can.

Sooner or later, though, they're going to have to look at how others in other markets are needing to find ways to reach the fans, as cord cutting takes its toll. I think two franchises that should be looking more at over the air are the Islanders and Devils. Both are hidden on one of the MSG networks and the Rangers are more popular. So it would be smart for both of them to put a few games on free TV to try to reach new fans.

The Islanders should fit in the new plan Paramount Global is going with by putting a few games on WLNY. Even though the city doesn't get that signal they can still watch that channel through FiOS, cable and satellite. Likewise, the Devils should have a few games on WWOR. WWOR was supposed to serve New Jersey residents as part of a deal that a previous owner of that station agreed to when trying to renew the license in those days.

If I had my way I would put these teams on the following channels:

WLNY 55 - Islanders
WWOR 9 - Devils, Nets, Mets
WPIX 11 - Yankees
WPXN 31 - Knicks, Rangers

 

[CTListener]

Won't sports returning to OTA trigger an avalanche of carriage disputes with cable operators and over-the-top services? Certainly, under your scenario, WPXN becomes much more valuable to those non-OTA carriers than it is now. Can definitely see whatever new compensation is demanded for WPXN and all those other channels setting off the familiar threat/impasse/removal/negiotiation/return cycle that has played out for so long in other markets. Or does must-carry prevent owners of OTA stations from trying to squeeze more money out of cable operators but not out of OTT operators?

 

[fybush]

There's an important distinction a lot of posters here are missing - it's the difference between the RSNs that have successful team ownership and the ones that don't.

The Red Sox aren't going to leave NESN under current conditions, or the Yankees YES, or the Knicks and Rangers MSG.

The RSN problem is entirely at the lower tier, between the less-profitable teams and the less-profitable RSNs. It's literally a completely different economic landscape compared to the big-market teams. And that means that broadcast deals in those lower tier markets are also going to be an order of magnitude smaller, if and when they happen.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

WLNY 55 - Islanders
WWOR 9 - Devils, Nets, Mets
WPIX 11 - Yankees
WPXN 31 - Knicks, Rangers

The problem specifically in New York is that the teams own the RSNs, so their rights are essentially unavailable to any broadcaster.

The Yankees own a majority of YES, the Nets own a minority of YES, the Mets own a majority of SNY and the company which owns the Knicks and Rangers own MSG.

 

[CTListener]

The problem specifically in New York is that the teams own the RSNs, so their rights are essentially unavailable to any broadcaster.

The Yankees own a majority of YES, the Nets own a minority of YES, the Mets own a majority of SNY and the company which owns the Knicks and Rangers own MSG.

Same in Boston with the Red Sox, Bruins and NESN. The Celtics, though, are stuck on practically barren NBC Sports Boston, so I suppose that if NBCU leaves the RSN business some local OTA station will pick them up.

I wonder if this "back to the future" solution is only temporary, that somehow Big Media will find a way to resuscitate or reimagine the sports distribution model in a way that doesn't make valuable content (games) available for nothing to millions of cord-cutters who have nothing but a receiver and an antenna.

 

[TheBigA]

I've read that Paramount Global is dropping the CW affiliation on some of their channels, in part, to look for opportunities to air local sports.

Really? Where did you read that? My theory is that they've dropped CW in order to air more internally produced Paramount TV content, rather than giving up local money to Nextar. Nowhere have I seen anything about local sports. If RSNs are losing money with exclusive rights to sports, that's obviously not the kind of programming someone would want.

 

[Mikey Radio]

For those major league franchises from the various sports who don't own a stake in or aren't co-owned with an RSN, the decision will likely come down to what makes them the most money. If that means OTA and enough advertising can be sold to cover all costs + give a solid chunk of $$ to the team, then they may consider it. Otherwise, they may think a paid streaming service is a better deal for them financially. At the end of the day, cash is king.

 

[stationless listener]

Really? Where did you read that? My theory is that they've dropped CW in order to air more internally produced Paramount TV content, rather than giving up local money to Nextar. Nowhere have I seen anything about local sports. If RSNs are losing money with exclusive rights to sports, that's obviously not the kind of programming someone would want.

CBS-Owned CW Stations Will Go Independent Later This Year

CW stations in Philadelphia, Seattle, Atlanta, Detroit and other major markets will drop their affiliation and go independent.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

According to Wendy McMahon, president and co-head of CBS News and Stations, the company will program the stations with content from elsewhere in the Paramount portfolio, and will also strategically pursue sports deals, similar to the deal Scripps made this week to air Las Vegas Golden Knights hockey games, or Gray TV’s deal with the Phoenix Suns.

“We look forward to reimagining these stations as independents while leveraging the considerable value of their prime-time real estate in each of the markets,” McMahon said in a statement. “It’s an exciting time to look at new opportunities to add local programming, including live sports, and shows from across the Paramount Global brands. We are also grateful to have been part of The CW for 17 memorable years and wish our partners at Nexstar continued success.”

As regional sports networks struggle, some local TV stations are looking to cut deals to bring MLB, NBA and NHL games to their broadcast airwaves. By going independent, the stations will have more freedom to air live games in primetime.

 

[TheBigA]

According to Wendy McMahon, president and co-head of CBS News and Stations, the company will program the stations with content from elsewhere in the Paramount portfolio,

Don't overlook the first half of the sentence. They didn't drop the CW in order to replace it with local sports.

 

[stationless listener]

Don't overlook the first half of the sentence. They didn't drop the CW in order to replace it with local sports.

I'm not saying they'd turn them into full sports stations, simply that they could do deals with a local sports teams for a few games. Let's say, for the sake of argument, they do 20 to 25 games with the Islanders. Out of 82 games a season, that's a pretty nice size and good exposure for a New York hockey team. The rest can stay at MSG Networks. And the Devils on Channel 9 would be great exposure for that hockey team as well.

The obvious stipulation would be how the money would work. I just hope that the local stations don't look at a gift horse in the mouth and start to want to screw over the remaining subscribers of pay TV. If they can't attract enough ads with the sports teams then this is all moot.

 

[TheBigA]

I'm not saying they'd turn them into full sports stations, simply that they could do deals with a local sports teams for a few games.

They didn't drop CW in order to do that. They could always do deals with teams if they're available, regardless of affiliation.

But they're always better off running Paramount owned content than spending money for outside stuff.

And the Devils on Channel 9 would be great exposure for that hockey team as well.

Paramount doesn't own Channel 9. That's a Fox owned station. Teams don't need exposure. They need money.

 

[stationless listener]

Same in Boston with the Red Sox, Bruins and NESN. The Celtics, though, are stuck on practically barren NBC Sports Boston, so I suppose that if NBCU leaves the RSN business some local OTA station will pick them up.

I wonder if this "back to the future" solution is only temporary, that somehow Big Media will find a way to resuscitate or reimagine the sports distribution model in a way that doesn't make valuable content (games) available for nothing to millions of cord-cutters who have nothing but a receiver and an antenna.

Diehards will find their teams however they can but, at some point, there won't be enough diehards to sustain the current pay TV model. Teams will have to create new fans and the best way to do that now is to expand their reach.

I've acknowledged in the beginning that the big markets would be the last to transition but what has started in the smaller markets will likely go upwards, with the changes in demos and the tightening of the money supply. It will be tough on the owners who are expecting cash flow to continue to go higher to eternity but that's how the world works.

 

[TVCOOL]

Sunday afternoons and weeknights are perfect for pro sports OTA like the NY Yankees back on WPIX 11 for starters that's 3 hours that can replace infomercials and/or movies (even better if it's a doubleheader). Same for WWOR My9 with the NY Mets. Here in Boston / Providence, RI the Red Sox can have WSBK TV38 for the Sunday afternoon and prime time games.

 

[CTListener]

Sunday afternoons and weeknights are perfect for pro sports OTA like the NY Yankees back on WPIX 11 for starters that's 3 hours that can replace infomercials and/or movies (even better if it's a doubleheader). Same for WWOR My9 with the NY Mets. Here in Boston / Providence, RI the Red Sox can have WSBK TV38 for the Sunday afternoon and prime time games.

YES and NESN are team-owned RSNs that, at least for now, are facing no threat of failure that would bring Yankees and Red Sox games back to over-the-air TV.

 

[ThePowerCow]

All these OTA stations have a bunch of subchannels showing nothing but reruns, shopping, and preaching.

 

[TVCOOL]

Some subchannels do have Stadium.